Rate My Professor Shirley Tian

Xin (Shirley) Tian is an Associate Professor of Information Technology at Kennesaw State University in the College of Computing and Software Engineering, where she serves as the MSIT Graduate Program Coordinator since January 2023. Previously, she coordinated the BSIT/BASIT programs from May to December 2022. She holds a Ph.D. in Information Technology and an M.S. in Computer Science from Old Dominion University, as well as a B.S. in Information Management and Information Systems from Beijing Forestry University. With over 15 years of experience in the IT industry as a programmer and analyst, she transitioned to academia, contributing to courses such as Data Communications & Networking, Network Configuration & Administration, Database Design and Applications, Foundations of Health Information Technology, and Fundamentals of Enterprise Cloud. Tian is an AWS Academy Accredited Educator and an ABET Program Evaluator for Information Technology since 2024.

Her research focuses on cybersecurity education and curriculum design, social media analytics, brain-computer interfaces in neuroscience, blockchain governance in healthcare and energy, artificial intelligence in Industry 4.0, and data science applications in public health. Notable publications include Zheng and Tian (2024), 'BRAIN-COMPUTER INTERFACE (BCI) IN NEUROSCIENCE FROM 2008 TO 2023: A SURVEY,' presented at SAIS; Tian et al. (2023), 'Using Health Belief Model and Social Media analytics to Develop Insights from Hospital-Generated Twitter Messaging and Community Responses on COVID-19,' Journal of Enterprise Information Management; and Chen et al. (2023), 'Systematic analysis of artificial intelligence in the era of industry 4.0,' Journal of Management Analytics. She has earned Emerald Literati Awards for outstanding papers and reviewing, IACIS Jay Liebowitz Best Student Research Paper Awards as a mentor in 2019 and 2021, and secured grants including a $484,689 NSF REU Site award for brain-computer interface research (2023-2026, co-PI), $160,859 NSF Georgia ELITE (PI, 2025-2029), multiple $10,000 Affordable Learning Georgia grants, and Women in Cybersecurity faculty grants. Tian leads undergraduate research via First-Year Scholar Programs and VIP teams on cybersecurity education.